Curtis Mayfield – Roots

It seems that this is a low-quality unofficial release. The sound is flat and fatiguing, and the cover, with the “original ‘3-D’ cardboard structure still visible in some areas,” is indeed a poor attempt to resemble the original texture. Avoid it if you can.

Acceptable sounding pressing but my sleeve seems to be slightly too small

These Rhino/Scorpio reissues (pressed at Rainbo) are essentially "budget" releases, but my experience is that more often than not, they sound pretty good and I would consider them a decent value at regular retail price. To Rhino's credit, a lot of these releases include some great soul and R&B titles which over the years have been woefully neglected by the audiophile labels. Even if they're not sourced from the original analog, it is nice that there are some decent, affordable copies to be had on vinyl. I think the mastering (many by David Chappa at Better Quality Sound) is often quite good with some titles being really good for example, another Mayfield release, (There's No Place Like) America Today is absolutely fantastic. However, I have to agree with the other reviews stating that this release is bad. I think the problem is most likely the pressing itself. Rainbo has a reputation for doing some shoddy work from time to time and I think that's what we have here. The pressing I have is extremely noisy and sounds absolutely horrible. So much in fact, that I could not even get through the first side. The vinyl itself even looks bad to the eye. Really, I can't recall ever hearing a pressing that sounded like this right out the box. Rainbo was around for a long time and not everything they did was this bad, but I think that especially in the later years, they got sloppy and the quality control was non-existant. As a result, we have this fiasco.

SNAKESKIN EMBOSSING!?!?!? wow... glad I found a copy of this... one of the most important soul records ever made...

Speculation that this is digital is warranted - Chris Bellman is known for cutting from digital files. Also: As per Curtis' son Todd's book 'Travelling Soul: The Life of Curtis Mayfield' - there was a fire at Curtis' Atlanta house where he was (improperly) storing his own master tapes. It isn't said what was destroyed or kept, but it was stated that whatever was left (or salvaged and repaired) was promptly transferred to digital files. Sad, but this might be the best we're every going to hear Roots (assuming this is a from a digital file and the transfer was done properly)...

Along with CURTIS and SUPERFLY, ROOTS is one of Mayfield's finest solo albums. I've always loved the production on this record, the music feels lush and lean at the same time, despite the occasional string and horn arrangements. This is a 1971 pressing, with good range from top to bottom and an open, spacious soundstage. My copy has a small scratch that causes tics (but no skips) for about 40 seconds during "Now You're Gone", otherwise the vinyl plays nice and clean with very little surface noise. This release comes in a very thin, textured sleeve, the spine is on the opposite side, and there is no printed information on the spine.

I have this label variation with the same deadwax but the sleeve is a gatefold with the calendar.

Sounds is dope as you could possibly expect from a very good quality pressing...
Flat with very quiet vinyl indeed 👌 dynamics and sound stage quality is on point 10/10 👉👌🤗

My copy came with a few scuffs and marks. Despite this it's silent and sounds fantastic. It's an absolutely astonishing sounding record. Musically it's glorious. It has all the hallmarks of soul and funk of the 70s. Massive wah guitar and all. But it feels more. It's so hopeful and so magical. It feels hopeful in such a real and honest way. It's just magnificent. Can't wait to get his debut.

Is it just my version or is this edition loaded from the left side of the jacket?